Jones shrugged off 'lucky' claims

Sun, 19 Nov 2017 07:58

REACTION: Eddie Jones refused to entertain suggestions that England had been lucky after a 30-6 win over Australia.

The match against the Wallabies on Saturday was always going to be the centrepiece of an end-of-year home series for England that started with a 21-8 win over Argentina and concludes with the November 25 fixture against Samoa.

Jones was delighted by the way England adapted to the rainy conditions against Australia at Twickenham, the hosts scoring four tries to none from the Wallabies.

The scoreline might indicate that England dominated proceedings, however it took 54 minutes to score their first try.

England were only 6-3 up when Elliot Daly crossed after officials could not be certain that flyhalf George Ford's kick ahead had found touch.

It was one of the several key decisions that went England's way, with referee Ben O'Keeffe sending both Australia captain Michael Hooper and Kurtley Beale to the sin-bin.

The New Zealander also disallowed tries by flank Hooper and wing Marika Koroibete for offside.

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When asked if Jones considered his side lucky, in terms of the TMO's decisions, the mentor insisted it was courtesy of seizing opportunities not luck.

"Why do we have a referee? Why do we have a TMO (television match official)? How were we lucky?

"They do 10 replays of video and they make a decision," insisted Jones.

England capitalised with three tries inside the last eight minutes from backs Jonathan Joseph, Jonny May and replacement Danny Care.

"In the end tactically we played smart," said Jones after recording his fifth straight win against Australia as England supremo.

"The rain came down heavy. Even at the start of the game, the pitch was slippery... I thought, in the end, we played the conditions superbly."

Jones, the former Australia coach, added: "It was an arm wrestle. You had to take your opportunities when they came about and we managed to take our opportunities better than them,"

Australia were left searching for a first win over England since knocking them out of the 2015 World Cup with a 33-13 pool victory at Twickenham - a result that led to Jones' England appointment after Stuart Lancaster was sacked.

The Argentina match saw television cameras catch Jones swearing in frustration at England mistakes - which led to a rebuke from his 93-year-old mother.